Red Dead Redemption 2 Has Explosive Bank Heist Mission

By Jasmine Henry 23 May 2018

This week, Rockstar Games finally revealed details regarding the Red Dead Redemption 2 story. The developer confirmed that the game will focus on Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang as the wild west era winds down.

During a recent preview event for Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar showed off one such example of the gang putting its skills to good use. Arthur, along with Van der Linde gang members Lenny, Karen, and Bill Williamson, head to a location called Valentine with plans to pull off a bank heist. First, Karen unbuttons her shirt and pretends to be drunk in order to distract the bank’s employees, before the three men join her preparing to make a grab for the money.

Rockstar has released this screenshot, which appears to be from the Valentine bank heist mission.

After attacking the banker to get them to open the vault, it’s up to Arthur to either crack the safe quietly or just blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. In Rockstar’s demo of the game, Arthur just blew the safe up, something which attracts a huge amount of lawmen and sees him use the returning Dead Eye gameplay feature before the gang is able to make a speedy getaway on horseback.

Rockstar has confirmed that the decisions that players make in these moments – such as the safe-opening choice – will have an impact on how a mission plays out. In the case of the Valentine bank heist, had Arthur have chosen the quieter approach, the gang may have been able to avoid the heavy law presence as they left with the loot. Rockstar seems determined to give players more choice in Red Dead Redemption 2, and this mission seems to be a small example of that.

Many fans will also be wondering if the bank heist is an indication of some of the other antics that they will be able to get up to. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online feature substantial heist gameplay which also incorporates some degree of choice (e.g NPCs to hire as an accomplice) and many would be excited to see the wild west version of that. A failed robbery is the catalyst of the game’s story, after all, and it would be a real missed opportunity if Rockstar didn’t let the gang work together in more tactical, theft-related moments. Hopefully, Rockstar will reveal more missions soon.